Numbers. More than 8 million votes have already been cast here in california and across the u. S. More than a 3rd of americas registered voters have already cast their ballot and the south bay in fact the sorting verifying and counting of ballots has begun. And almost half of the ballots that were mailed out to voters have already been returned. Offers rob fladeboe joins us now live from the register voters in san jose with the latest numbers, rob thats right vicki and grant else and again 5 days to go in election is already into record territory as you say a Million People registered to vote here in Santa Clara County almost half of those ballots have already been returned im here outside the Registrars Office in san jose been watching and talking with people as they come by to drop off their ballots and so has the registrar of voters here who says its all systems go for this record breaking historic voter turnout. Heres a closer look. Again no youre good 3 can i just make sure you shannon spent part of the day thursday helping men a ballot box where a steady stream of voters who are adding to the already Record Number of ballots received we have already received over 478,000 ballots back. So its been great were processing those on a daily basis, an army of workers are already processing and counting. The first returned ballots from the record one millionplus registered voters. So far more than 2 times as many ballots have been returned compared with this time 4 years ago in the 2016 election. People are invested in this election like never before says the registrar it tells us that people are listening to the message that we have been putting out and actually they think the whole nation has been putting out about. Voting early. And you know weve been talking to a lot of voters about if youre even worried about the post after skip the post office drop it off in there dropbox or to vote center. It means there will be that much less scouting to do on Election Night but that doesnt mean well know all of the winners and losers right away. The return and counting of ballots will continue long after the polls have closed and the huge numbers mean the counters have their work cut out for them we need to process provisional ballots conditional Voter Registration and their ballots. And we do many audits, including a one percent manual recount cent for those who missed the october 19th deadline to have a ballot mailed to them they can go to any of the vote centers. And do what we call conditional Voter Registration. Well they were register and vote. At the exact same time perfecting her voting you too. Thousands more people have already voted in person here at the Registrars Office and this saturday, halloween, almost 100 Voting Centers will open across Santa Clara County and they will stay open through tuesday november, 3rd live in san jose rob fladeboe kron 4 news. Thank you rob this weekend levi stadium in santa clara will open as an Early Voting Center where people can cast their ballots. The niners home field will open for in person voting starting saturday. And it will be an option through election day the early voting hours are 09 00am to 05 00pm and with levis in play now there are 100 early Voting Centers in Santa Clara County alone. You can find a complete list of locations on our website kron 4 dot com. And here at kron 4 weve been asking you to send in your election questions and there are quite a few common questions that are streaming including this one from the to aunt of arrows it reads i put my ballot in an official ballot box to my work in san mateo 10 days ago. I am registered in Santa Clara County. My ballot has not yet been counted should i be concerned. But we spoke to a local registrar of voters to get her answer. We are allowed collect ballots from anywhere in the state of california we cant collect them from other states unfortunately, but weve gotten a lot of ballots from other california counties. And we have 8 days from the day we receive it to transfer to the correct county. And so there could be and we will get it there was in the 8 days, well get it out of our hands we probably do it the same day or early the next day. So those ballots are already on their way to their home counties, but it may take the home county a day or 2 to process that into their system and show that its received. All right, theres your if you happen have any problems casting your ballot do let us know well investigate get you an answer you can email us at voting problems at kron 4 dot com. Making sure the election is safe and secure is the top priority for the secretary of States Office kron fours Capitol Bureau reporter Ashley Zavala talked with the secretary of state alex, but about which security measures will be in place. Nearly 9 Million People already have their ballots in secretary of state alex by the u. S. Has his office and county Elections Officials across the state are taking steps to ensure voters are safe and ballots are protected by says so far in early voting. There havent been any incidents of voter harassment or intimidation at the polls is office last month sent an unprecedented memo to county Elections Officials rehashing voter intimidation laws and consequences as discussions ramp up on poll watchers folks there to observe can not in any way. Interfere with the administration of elections, its really cant cross the line try to harass or intimidate somebody was trying to exercise their right to election supervisors are trained to make sure that the election goes smoothly, including. And been trained on how to de escalate maybe some tense situation that there are questions still Law Enforcement involved here or you may be leaving it up to poll workers Law Enforcement standby should they be necessary but that is never that the first step in responding to an incident every into the middle bit different so you know we hope to not make it in the bud with about 40 of ballots already returned by the u. S. Is county Elections Officials are working to keep those secure all these bouts are maintained in a high security areas, you know only official people have access to these types of rooms. Multiple types of locks. It said or uh Elections Officials have just days left to keep the safeguards in place before the counting begins in sacramento, Ashley Zavala kron 4 news. The city of les ho is activating its Emergency Operations center in anticipation of any. Election related civil unrest. While city Officials Say that theres no immediate threat that they know about they do want to be prepared. And that means there will be more First Responders on duty, including firefighters and Police Officers on election day. Now to focusing on florida the 2020 president ial candidates were in the Sunshine State today. Of course florida is a key battleground state if you had to pick one. Battleground state that is most important it may be florida. Kron fours washington correspondent kelli meyer has a recap as both candidates find themselves on the same turf. Dueling rallies in the same battleground state in. Stay. President trump and former Vice President joe biden both competing for votes in the all important battleground state of florida the florida goes blow its over florida is up for grabs on tuesday with each working to seal the deal we didnt know what doing it again. My first lady wants to do it again President Trump is banking on his home state advantage and surprise supporters with a speech from his wife. First Lady Melania Trump on my husband me to our nation is expected to gain both candidates brought up the Coronavirus Crisis facing the country but share different approaches to defeat the pandemic im not going to shut down economy. Im not going to shut down the country but im going to shut down the virus would never get a lockdown again. Open for business and thats what it supporters crowded together during President Trumps tampa rally. Even though 2 people at his rally last week in North Carolina tested positive for the coronavirus President Trump super spreader of accident spreading more virus around the country biden state in florida for a second rally in tampa while the president returned to North Carolina. Both vying for a victory in these key swing states reporting in washington, im kelly meyer. Turning now to our coronavirus coverage, the u. S. Has now averaged morning than 74,000 new covid19 cases every day and 41 states are reporting at least 10 more cases compared to the week before Health Experts say that those numbers are likely to get worse, however, according to researchers at n y u the death rate from covid19 that is actually going down likely because of better treatment because the average age of those infected is dropping. After earlier suggesting covid the vaccine for it could be ready by election day the president is now telling his followers at his rallies. Its right around the corner. Doctors said scientists are also weighing in kron fours dan kerman is live outside Ucsf Medical Center with a vaccine reality check boyd and the pandemic in politics sure do converge here. Absolutely except for the doctors and the scientists said they say this talk about. Election day for a vaccine was really an unreasonable expectation. Now doctor fauci has talked about possibly december january but experts here ucsf say the most highrisk populations likely wont see mass distribution until the spring. Weve got the vaccine is coming very soon after initially suggesting a covid19 vaccine could be ready by election day. The president is now telling his followers. Its right around the corner during an online chat today, doctor Anthony Fauci the nations top Infectious Disease expert said in fact we wont know until december at the earliest if theres a safe and effective vaccine. When will be we be able to deploy that vaccine and get it to those individuals who need it the most namely the prioritization that came from the a c ip and the National Academy medicine. I would think conservatively it would be some time at the very end ended december the beginning of january. Well for companies are now working on vaccines, 2 of them had to put a pause on trials to investigate safety issues thats why Infectious Disease specialist at ucsf believe that december january time line may be too overly optimistic. They maybe did a string that this effort to cnn back seen by the end of this calendar year. But in terms of someone sticking their arm out to get the vaccine probably not until spring of 2021 ucsf Infectious Disease specialist doctor, peter, chinhong. Says spring is a more realistic timeline for highrisk populations given trial delays reviews of those trials and the complications involved in distributing an approved vaccine. Some of the boxes require ultracold temperatures in the art of negative 70 to negative 80 degrees celsius. So its not just like keeping it in the fridge is actually very complex and. Theres such a need for vaccination that it will take a while. Now ucsf experts also indicate that that spring timeline that theyre talking about is more for the high risk populations were talking about Health Care Workers and seniors, what about the rest of us they say that likely wont happen for mass distribution until the fall live at Ucsf Dan Kerman Kron 4 news. All right. Thank you dan still to come tonight Health Officials warning of a twindemic may become reality in the north bay what were learning about Solano Countys first co infection. Plus a rapid rise in crime in the city of alameda this summer. Why police say the covid19 pandemic could be to blame and a strong message from San Francisco city leaders for the upcoming. Halloween urging people not to undo the progress made during the pandemic theyre warning is next. Im meteorologist Lawrence Karnow lot of sunshine around the bay area today could we have some rain in the forecast though well talk about that coming up next. Uber and lyft are like every big guy ive ever brought down. Prop 22 doesnt help their drivers it denies them benefits. 22 doesnt help women. It actually weakens Sexual Harassment laws, which are meant to protect them. Uber and lyft arent even required to investigate Sexual Harassment claims. I agree with the la times no on 22. Uber and lyft want all the power. So, show them the real power is you. Vote no on prop 22. A new warning tonight against halloween parties in San Francisco in the castro normally a magnet for gatherings on what is considered. By some to be a kind of like a high holiday in the city but not this year, yeah, usually epic celebrations there, but officials are worried about a rise in covid cases in they dont want to see the city back sliding out of the yellow tear our first morning kelly talked to the mayor about these concerns. It seemed like it was going to be an epic halloween this year, its on a saturday. Theres a full moon here in a city where people love to dress up and have fun but now we have the specter of coronavirus looming over us and the citys mayor is concerned that people are going to think just because were in the yellow tier we can get a little loose, but she says thats not the case. Were in the yellow here now, but that could change at a moments notice. The mayor visited businesses today out the excelsior some with their halloween decorations up but was scaring the mayors that were starting to see a spike shes concerned about the rise in hospitalizations and the number of new cases and and so what im concerned about right now is that as we go into the whole halloween weekend and people may feel good that San Franciscos in a good place but were not and its going to put us in a situation where we may have to make some adjustments and. As much as halloween is like my favorite holiday ever to celebrate even i have to take a step back from what i traditionally would want to do to do what is in the best interest of the people of the city because if wed all and were talking about future holidays where we wont be able to celebrate in the ways that we enjoy the supervisor of the Castro District is also warning people not to come here and party like in years past and that suits. Those we talked to in the neighborhood. Just find the castor is a really fun place. I love living here, but im all about safety first so personally im going to be staying home this year and im glad theyre encouraging people to stay home. I hope other people listen to what theyre saying the city says go ahead and decorate your house theyre encouraging people to still dress up in costumes. But theyre discouraging of course large gatherings and theyre also discouraging trick or treating. Now the citys Public Health department does have a list on their website of ideas on how to still have fun on the holiday. But also stay safe during the pandemic you can find a link on our website kron 4 dot com. Maureen kelly kron 4 news. At least 5 people at Ucsf Medical Centers Parnassus Heights campus have contracted covid19 Officials Say they dont know how it all started 2 patients, sharing a room and the 3 employees who cared for them. All tested positive both patients though initially tested negative for covid before being admitted to the hospital. But one of them unexpectedly tested positive on the routine discharge test. This forced dozens of workers took quarantine the employees are reported to have some mild symptoms while the patients appear to be asymptomatic the state and local Health Departments are collaborating with ucsf to investigate this outbreak. A patient in Solano County has been diagnosed with both the flu and covid19 county Health Department is calling it a co infection. At this point officials are not releasing any information on the patient except to say theyre under the age of 65 Health Officials have been warning of a quote twindemic they name everything since the flu season began and the 2 illnesses do share similar symptoms. So folks who think they may just have the flu should get tested for covid as well. As we get a check now on the 4 zone forecast Vicki Lawrence and ill took off mask so were doing news we roll around here. All right guy lawrence joi